On the performance of Brady Quinn:
"I really don't get caught up in records, but Brady did a lot of things well today. I thought he played a nearly flawless game and handled the blitz well. We knew that is what they were going to do today. Brady played great today and handled a lot of different situations very well. "

On the emergence of Maurice Stovall in this afternoon's game:
"Maurice Stovall has really benefited from trimming down and he would be the first to admit it. In NFL terminology, he was a real tweener at 237 pounds. Sometimes receivers think that bigger is better, but that isn't normally the case. It has paid dividends for him and for us for him to lose weight."

On the flow of the game:
"There were definitely highs and lows in the game. It wasn't a perfect game. When you win the game, it is a lot easier to constructively criticize. We certainly have things that we can work on."

On the play of the defense:
"Our defense was up and down today. At times BYU was moving the ball at will, but there were also times in the first half that our defense made some key third-down stops. Even after they scored in the second half, we still were able to get off the field and stop them. When it is all said and done, giving up 23 points against their offense isn't that bad of a thing considering how wide open their offense is.

On the team's attitude after the loss to USC last week:
"The week started off on somewhat of a low, obviously, and worked its way up as the week progressed. I think that we sold everyone that we really were starting the second half of the season. The players bought into it very quickly and all we wanted to do was come out and get a win at home."

On the first home win of the season:
"I'm really happy for these guys. It really wasn't easy because the game was closer than the final score may indicate. I'm happier for them because I'm already thinking about what is going on in the game (Tennessee-Alabama)."

Notre Dame Player Quotes
Notre Dame vs. BYU
October 22, 2005

Junior DT Trevor Laws
On the play of the offense...
"They played great. Getting that rest when they're on the field makes our job a lot easier. It lets you be a whole different football player, in that you can give your all every play knowing the offense will give you rest on the sideline."

Junior DE Victor Abiamiri
On the areas where the defense needs improvement...
"I think we need to improve on our consistency. At times we might have one or two plays go well, but then we will give up a long pass. We need to cut down on teams converting their third downs so we can get ourselves off the field."

On the strategy of the defense...
"We tried to dictate the way the game was played, and have them play our game. We wanted to cut out the run because we felt it was key to make them one-dimensional with the pass game. It also helped that we knew our offense had our back."

Junior WR Jeff Samardzija
On setting records...
"It feels great but our team has five wins and is rolling heading into the bye week. If any one of those touchdowns helps win a game for the team, that's great because that's what they're for. You're not out there for personal stats or trying to set records, you're just trying to make plays and anything else is just icing on the cake."

On the confidence of the offense...
"The overall confidence we have is the story of the offense right now. It starts with Brady when he is making his reads and making great calls, and then it keeps rolling and you have to just go with it."

Junior QB Brady Quinn
On the play of the receivers...
"We just tried to get them the ball and let them do what they do best. 'Mo', Jeff, and the rest are all tremendous with the ball in their hands and get a lot of yards after the catch. There were one-on-one match ups that we were willing to take."

On the team's attitude heading into the game...
"We wanted to start fast and come out strong to show people that were weren't going to feel sorry for ourselves after the tough loss."

Opening statement: "I would like to congratulate Coach Weis and the Notre Dame team on their win today. They are an excellent team and an excellent program with an excellent coach. They deserved to win, and they outperformed us in every aspect of the game today. Their quarterback Brady Quinn and receiver Maurice Stovall had outstanding days on offense this afternoon."

On BYU: "Our football team is growing and learning and we did not perform up to our best today and I am responsible for that. I am looking forward to getting this team back home and back on track against Air Force next week."

On the Notre Dame Offense: "There weren't many surprise, but I was a little surprised early by the number of empty formations and quick throws. We never really took that away from them. Either way, they were attacking us through the air and that is where we were the most vulnerable and that is where they were most successful today."

On the BYU Offense: "I like our offense. It is growing and developing, but we weren't efficient today. We weren't as 'execution sound' and there were opportunities today that we expect a better outcome with. We can work on plenty in that regard. The scheme is good, the players are good enough, but our execution was not good enough today."

On BYU's defense: "Regardless of coverage zone, man or combination, Notre Dame's passing game was better than our coverage in every instance today."

On BYU's approach to the game: "The approach was similar this week to every other game this season. What was different was we have made more plays when we needed to than we did today. That was the main difference. Coach Weis deserves a lot of credit for how he prepared his team for today. My job is to get our young men to play at a higher level and execute and make enough plays to give us a chance to win and we didn't do that today."

On Notre Dame's letdown from last week: "No, I did not think that they would have a letdown at all. When you watched them play against USC in the matchup, if USC is indeed number one Notre Dame is very close to that, and how do you really know with the rankings. They played them toe-to-toe and there were a lot of positives to take away from that, even though they lost. I am sure it was emotionally draining but they are a fine football team."

BYU-Notre Dame
Oct. 22, 2005
BYU Player Quotes

Fahu Tahi, RB

Overall Comments ...
"Both defensively and offensively, we had a lot of mistakes that hurt us and against a team like Notre Dame. We don't have room for errors and they took advantages of those."

On a strong start the second half ...
"We played well in the third quarter and coming out and scoring right away was a boost. However, we had our mistakes that killed us. We have a great offense but our mistakes held us back from were we could have been today. I believe if we would have played a perfect game, it would have been a different outcome."

John Beck, QB

Overall Comments ...
"We knew this was to be a tough ballgame. On offense, we expect to come out and score points and we knew we had to come in here and play our best. We made a lot of mistakes offensively. We did execute well on offense at times. It is hard to focus on the positives after a loss, so we have to come back, watch the film and see what we have to change."

On third-quarter comeback ...
"We were confident and we believed that the next time we got the ball we were going to score. When we got that close, I had all the confidence in our defense that they were going to get a stop and we were going to drive down and get more points."

On Notre Dame's blitz ...
"There was a while when the protections were getting mixed up, but as a quarterback you have to take your shots and get back up. I got knocked in the mouth a couple times today but you have to get up and go to the next play and believe in your offensive line. "

Kayle Buchanan, DB

On Notre Dame's ability to move the ball ...
"It's maddening. I didn't get depressed or hang my head. I was frustrated with myself because I know that I am faster than that. We are better than what we showed today, plain and simple."